Tech billionaire and Palantir CEO Peter Thiel, best known for co-founding PayPal and overseeing one of the world’s most powerful surveillance companies, is preparing to deliver a four-part lecture series on the biblical figure of the Antichrist. The events, hosted by the Commonwealth Club and organized by the Acts 17 Collective, will run on Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Sept. 29, and Oct. 6.

Promotional materials frame the series as a sweeping study of theology, literature, and the “politics of the Antichrist,” with Thiel citing thinkers like René Girard and Jonathan Swift. The lectures won’t be recorded, and entry is only available as a full-series pass, adding to the secrecy surrounding the project.

But the question hanging over the events is less about theology and more about Thiel himself. Why is one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful, secretive, and politically connected figures suddenly posturing as a religious authority — and why now?

Critics say the choice of Thiel as a Christian lecturer on the Antichrist is bizarre, given his contradictions and controversial history. Thiel, after all, is not a conventional Christian voice. He is openly gay, married to investor Matt Danzeisen, and has poured millions into U.S. politics. His company, Palantir, builds surveillance software used by intelligence agencies and police worldwide. Donald Trump has enlisted him to help craft a federal data-sharing order that watchdogs fear could evolve into a government super-database.

And now, Thiel is positioning himself as a Christian guide to spotting the signs of evil. Thiel himself has speculated that the Antichrist will seize control by promising “peace and safety.”

The timing makes the move even stranger. In 2023, Miami police investigated the death of Thiel’s former romantic partner, model and influencer Jeff Thomas, who fell from a luxury high-rise in what was swiftly ruled a suicide. Thomas, who once described himself as being “kept” by Thiel in exchange for cars and a $13 million Hollywood Hills mansion, had given a candid interview before his death, calling the relationship stressful and “like living in a dollhouse.”

“He wanted me to get the nicest car, the nicest house,” Thomas said, suggesting the arrangement left him feeling owned. “It was compensation for giving up my freedom.”

Police sources confirmed that Thiel was expected to be interviewed as part of the probe, but the investigation closed quickly. To this day, questions linger over how such a powerful figure’s private life intersects with his public influence.

So as Thiel prepares to lecture on the Antichrist, critics say the irony is hard to ignore: a billionaire gay conservative with deep ties to government surveillance, linked to a mysterious death, now stepping into the pulpit to define good and evil for the public.

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